Yelena Baturina
Yelena Nikolayevna Baturina (Еле́на Никола́евна Бату́рина) (born March 8, 1963) is a Russian businesswoman, Russia's richest woman[1] and the only Russian woman worth more than a billion dollars. She is the joint 279th richest person in the world.[2] Her husband, Yuriy Luzhkov, was mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010.
Early life
Baturina is a Moscow native who began working at the Fraser plant (where her parents worked) after graduating from high school. She soon left for the Institute of Economical Problems of All-Around Development of the National Economy. She later got a degree, graduating from the Moscow-based State University of Management. Baturina met her future husband, Yuriy Luzhkov, in 1987 when they were both serving on the Mosgorispolkom, a Soviet-era municipal commission.[3] They married in 1991. The next year he became mayor of Moscow. In 2010 he was sacked by President Medvedev amidst accusations of corruption and mismanagement voiced on state run television.[4] Yuriy himself had at one time been tipped to run for president, though he never did.[4]
Career
In 1991 Baturina founded her company, Inteco ("Inteko" (Интеко) in Russian), which focuses on construction though it began as a plastics business. After Luzhkov became the mayor of Moscow in 1992, Inteco grew quickly, and he was accused of corruption because her company was given municipal contracts. Inteco was controversially awarded the contract to produce 85,000 seats for Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow's largest stadium, in 1995.[5] At one point Inteco was said to control 20% of construction in the capital. It is now being restructured away from building projects.[6] In 2005 Inteco sold its cement works and DSK-3, a producer of prefabricated buildings, for $1.1 billion. Baturina then bought shares in Gazprom and Sberbank.
Personal wealth
According to Forbes magazine, Baturina's net worth was $4,200,000,000 in 2008[7], up from $3.1 billion in 2007[2], $2.3 billion in 2006[3] and $1.1 billion in 2004[8]. According to magazine Finans, her wealth fell during the credit crunch to just $1 billion in February 2009, causing her to ask the Russian government for additional financing for Inteko.[7]
Baturina has a diverse portfolio. She owns hotels in the Black Sea tourist resort of Sochi, over 72,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Belgorod region, and also a factory that produces a million cans of sweetened condensed milk each year[8].
Brother
In 2007 Viktor Baturin, Yelena's brother, with whom she founded Inteco, sued Inteco for $120 million for wrongful dismissal.[9]
Intimidation of Inteko
On October 9 2005 executive director of Inteko-agro Alexander Annenkov was attacked in Belgorod by three assailants armed with axes. He survived.[10] At the time Baturina had been having business problems in Belgorod, with her attempts to modernise farmland there being opposed by local governor Yevgeny Savchenko.[10]
On October 13 2005, Inteco lawyer Dmitry Steinberg was shot at the entrance to his house. Baturina attended his funeral.[11]
After husband's dismissal
In November 2010 Luzhkov gave an interview to the Telegraph newspaper stating that the couple was sending their daughters to study in London to protect them from possible persecution from the Russian authorities. He said that a house had been bought in the west of the city for them. He said that he and his wife intend to visit them regularly.[12] Luzhkov also claimed that the Russian authorities were planning to break up Baturina's business empire and that the couple would fight the attempt: "We will not give up. My wife will battle for her business and for her honour and self-worth. That is for sure."[12]
Personal life
Baturina is an equestrian enthusiast and the president of the Equestrian Federation of Russia. She has two daughters with Luzhkov, Elena (born 1992) and Olga (born March 1994).
See also
References
- ^ YouTube - Russia's richest woman denies buying 90-room London mansion
- ^ a b The World's Billionaires - Forbes.com
- ^ a b Elena Baturina, The World's Richest People - Forbes.com
- ^ a b BBC
- ^ Moscow turns on the mayor’s wife in a billion
- ^ Hardliner with an iron grip on Moscow sets sights on a fifth term
- ^ a b Russia’s richest woman asks for state bailout
- ^ a b Forbes.com: Russia's 100 Richest 2004
- ^ Tycoon sues billionaire little sister for £120m
- ^ a b Washington Post article
- ^ Kommersant photo archive
- ^ a b Former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov: 'I fear for my family', Telegraph